Rechtsmedizin最新文献

This article reports the autopsy findings of a 1.5-year-old girl with no history of previous hospital admission who suddenly collapsed at home. After 45 minutes of resuscitation efforts, the cardiac activity was restored. During hospitalization, she had ventricular arrhythmia and extremely elevated cardiac troponin levels. Internal examination and immunohistochemistry revealed cardiac fibromas of the right and left ventricles and extensive hypoxic myocardial damage. The right ventricular fibroma demonstrated interdigitating and entrapped myocardium visible at the edges and within the central portion of the tumor. The left ventricular fibroma originated in the subepicardial region and propagated towards the endocardium.

During the COVID-19 pandemic the third section of the medical examination could be performed on simulation patients and simulators. Their use is also beneficial in forensic medicine, as a higher level of standardization and comparability of examination performance is achieved, and the use of real corpses is often not justifiable for medicolegal reasons. This case reports on the advantages and disadvantages of a simulation in the state examination in which a death certificate was to be completely filled out on the basis of an external postmortem examination on the simulator and an external anamnesis.

Background: During the recent pandemic with the severe acute respiratory syndrome-corona virus‑2 the first messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines were approved. To facilitate mass vaccination, confidence of the general population in these new vaccines is mandatory, which is in turn strongly dependent on the availability of reliable data on complications.

Objective: Summary of the current knowledge on mRNA vaccination-associated myocarditis as a potentially fatal side effect.

Methods: Systematic literature review.

Results: Diagnostic algorithm for the postmortem diagnosis of mRNA vaccination-associated myocarditis.

Conclusion: Autopsy series of fatalities following mRNA SARS-CoV‑2 vaccination up to 6 weeks with subsequent sophisticated and interdisciplinary work-up are necessary to complement clinical data on vaccination-associated myocarditis, especially regarding the incidence of fatal courses.

Supplementary information: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00194-022-00587-9) includes a PDF file with supplemental clinical features.

Background: Globally, there is talk of excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study is to examine whether this excess mortality is not only caused by fatal disease progression, but also by violent deaths associated with the pandemic.

Material and methods: In a retrospective study, 825 autopsy reports from the Leipzig Institute for Forensic Medicine for the year 2020 were evaluated, including 72 suicides and 14 homicides, which were examined for a connection to the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the criminal investigations and the statistics on the causes of death from the respective competent authorities for the years 2015-2020 were included.Data were entered anonymously and evaluated descriptively.

Results: Overall, 5 of 72 suicides (6.94%) and 1 of 14 homicides (7.14%) were motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of suicides in Germany fell overall between 2015 and 2020. Across Germany, there was no significant increase in suicides in 2020, whereas the number of suicides in Saxony rose by 8.7% (not significant) in the first year of the pandemic, 2020.

Discussion: In the Saxony sample examined, around 7% of the suicides and homicides were motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Motives included travel and exit restrictions, fear of infection with COVID-19 and changes in the social environment caused by the pandemic.The COVID-19-related excess mortality can therefore also be attributed to pandemic-associated violent deaths.It is intent to continue research on data for the second year of the pandemic (2021).

Background: Since the spread of the so-called electric scooters (e-scooters) through rental services in Hamburg as of June 2019, accidents due to the use of this means of transportation have been regularly registered. The most frequent injury patterns among e‑scooter riders involved accidents concerning the upper extremities and the head. There was a relevant accumulation of drunk drivers among the injured persons.

Objective: The aim of the study is to compare injury patterns in drunk versus non-drunk e‑scooter riders who had an accident.

Material and methods: Data from the Department of Trauma Surgery at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf were retrospectively analyzed for accidents involving e‑scooters and the resulting injury patterns. For this purpose, the gender, age, injury pattern of the persons, the course of the accident, and information on previous alcohol consumption were recorded descriptively for the period from June 2019 to December 2021.

Results: Drivers were on average 32 (interval: 15-88 years) years old and those under the influence of alcohol were predominantly male (69.9%). Accidents occurred mainly in summer and at night. Common injury patterns were injuries to the face, head, and extremities.

Conclusion: It should be noted that injuries to the face and head occurred more frequently under the influence of alcohol than in the cohort without alcohol. Education about the health and legal consequences of riding an e‑scooter under the influence of alcohol should be provided to all users. In addition, wearing a helmet or banning driving at night are possible measures to reduce accidents associated with drunk riding.